Bike path plans

Jefferson County’s public works department has plans for bike and pedestrian improvements near Chimacum Schools — including a new bridge over Chimacum Creek — and is seeking statements of qualifications from consulting firms. 

The project includes plans for an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant sidewalk, curb, and gutter adjoining SR 19, a bicycle lane, a multi-use path, and a pre-fabricated pedestrian-bicycle bridge across Chimacum Creek, driveway entrances, stormwater facilities, a bus stop, pedestrian illumination, and pedestrian crossings. 

The project area begins on SR 19 just south of the SR 19-Chimacum Road-Center Road intersection, runs through the Chimacum commercial district and ends at SR 19 near the Chimacum Schools campus, just south of the West Valley Road-SR 19 intersection.

The work is tentatively scheduled to begin in December 2024 and should take about a year to complete, according to county documents. 

The SR 19-Rhody Drive pedestrian and bicycle improvement project is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act.

First Fed sued over loans

Investors in an Everett-based water vending machine company who sued the business for allegedly failing to repay them $130 million in June, recently filed a new lawsuit against Port Angeles-based First Fed Bank.

WaterStation Technology stands accused by investors’ lawyers of being a Ponzi scheme, and Ryan Wear, who founded the company in 2013, promised that would-be investors could expect an annual return of 12% to 20% on their investment, according to documents from June filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. There was no mention of Jefferson County. 

Many investors secured small-business loans through First Fed to invest, putting up their personal assets and houses as collateral.  Wear said that revenue payments would more than cover monthly loan payments, and the bank didn’t require proper due diligence, according to the lawsuit.

A group of those investors filed the new lawsuit in King County Superior Court last week, claiming the bank issued high-risk loans, collectively worth more than $7.3 million, without disclosing its business dealings with Wear and WaterStation Technology.

Before it issued loans to investors, First Fed Bank loaned Wear $28 million, according to court documents. Lawyers claimed the bank then “hedged its investment” by loaning more money to would-be investors, taking the associated interest and fees, and injecting more cash into WaterStation.

First Fed Bank did not respond to requests for comment.